Panic and grief have gripped Mumbu village in Mwea, Kirinyaga County, after the body of a man who disappeared last week was found dumped inside an abandoned murram mine hole that had turned into a deep water well, with injuries indicating he was killed in an inhuman way.
The deceased has been identified as Isaac Karubia, a middle-aged resident who went missing on Saturday. His body was retrieved on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, after villagers received a tip-off that a body was floating inside the disused murram quarry at the edge of the village. The quarry, abandoned months ago after locals extracted murram for construction, has been holding water.
Witnesses who thronged the scene said the body bore visible signs of torture. Neighbour Jane Muthoni told reporters, “We are shocked. This man is my neighbour. He went missing on Saturday; we are shocked to see him dead. He has cuts in the head and hands,” a sentiment echoed by other residents who described the killing as inhuman and deliberate.
The brother to the deceased, John Bundi, said his brother was beaten before being murdered and dumped. “We had searched for him in police stations and other places without tracing him. Today we received a phone call that he had been seen here, and when we came, we found out that it is Isaac,” said Bundi Weweru, another resident who had joined the search party since Saturday.
The recovery was complicated by the depth of the water in the mine. In similar recent cases in Kirinyaga, police have had to call in firefighters to pump water or use ropes to retrieve bodies from such holes. Kirinyaga West Police Commander Luckyton Jos Mudavadi and Mwea East officers in previous incidents have said such quarry wells are increasingly becoming crime scenes, with investigations focusing on murder and body dumping.
The body was moved to Kerugoya Hospital Mortuary pending a post-mortem examination. Residents are now demanding that the County Government fence off all abandoned murram mines and that police fast-track investigations, saying insecurity has risen in areas surrounding the quarries in Mwea.
